Sustainable Energy in Asia and the Pacific: Emerging Technologies and Research Priorities

Countries in Asia and the Pacific have witnessed rapid economic growth especially in the past two decades. Large populations, together with the growing impact of industrialization and increasing standards of living have contributed to growth of energy consumption in the region by more than 200% in the last 25-30 years. In fact, the largest increases in both energy production and consumption during the period 1996-2006 have taken place in Asia and the Oceania. Projections for the next two decades, made on the basis of current and expected economic growth rates for the large countries such as China and India, indicate much bigger demands on energy.